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STANFORD, Calif. - Coming off a 2008 season which saw the program make its 16th trip to the College World Series, Stanford has been tabbed as the No. 5 team in the country on the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper 2009 Fabulous 40 preseason NCAA Division I baseball poll. The Cardinal garnered 484 points, while top-ranked Louisiana State (495 points), North Carolina (494), Rice (489) and Georgia (486) round out the nation's top-five.

Stanford returns 27 lettermen, five starting position players, three starting pitchers and its closer from last year's College World Series club. With this bevy of talent on The Farm, the Cardinal will open the 2009 campaign as Collegiate Baseball's top-ranked team in both the Pacific-10 Conference and in the state of California. Arizona State checks in at No. 6 as the next-highest Pac-10 club, while Cal State Fullerton holds down the No. 13 spot to rank second among California schools.

Head coach Mark Marquess will open his 33rd season at the helm of his alma mater when Stanford plays four home games at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond the weekend of February 20-22, 2009. The Cardinal will host Southeastern Conference power Vanderbilt (Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21), along with UC Riverside (Sunday, Feb. 22 doubleheader).

The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, which first began in 1957, is the oldest college baseball poll. The full release can be viewed at the publication's web site (www.baseballnews.com), while a detailed rundown on the top 40 teams will be available in the January 2, 2009 edition of Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.